This morning we had juice and tea on our verandah at a more respectable hour and saw warthogs on the other side of the river. We had a late breakfast, visited the shop at the camp and said our goodbyes to Peter, Karen and Rueben.

From Grumeti, we flew to Lake Manyara airstrip where we met our new ranger, John. From there we had a leisurely drive to Lake Manyara National Park and ultimately to Lake Manyara Tree Camp, the only accommodation within the National Park. En route, John pointed out baobab trees some of which date back to the time of Christ. The baobab's unusual appearance has given rise to many interesting tales about its origins. One such tale is that the god Thora took a dislike to the baobab growing in his garden. He tossed it over the wall of paradise to Earth below and, although it landed upside down, it still continued to grow! Baobab trees are also sometimes referred to as 'upside down trees'.

Once in the National Park, we saw all sorts: baboons, elephants, giraffes, hippos, zebras, flamingos and a buffalo herd. The flamingos were a little distant due to the rate at which the lake was drying up. After lunch at a picnic site which gave a good view towards the lake, we continued for the Tree Lodge. The remainder of the journey took a lot longer than anticipated due to numerous elephant encounters and due to one particular elephant seemingly being uninterested in leaving the road. Within one elephant herd was a young baby less than a week old which we watched struggle up the verge of the road before finally being helped by one of the passing adults (see pictures below). John had a good sense of humour and our journey was frequently truncated by stops for beer intermixed with stops to 'check the tyres' (ie. loo breaks at the rear of the vehicle).

After considerable 'vehicle maintenance', we eventually reached the camp just before 7.00pm and were met by a somewhat overwhelming welcome party. The group included the manager, Francis, and our butler for our stay, Abdallah, as well as a number of others, including some Masai warriors in full costume. After our briefing we were shown to our 'room' which was, without doubt, the best accommodation of our entire honeymoon. It consisted of steps up to a small lounge area, a bedroom, a bathroom, and an outdoor shower and decked verandah. The walls of the accommodation were such that they allowed the gentle breeze from outside through.

We were later escorted to dinner by a Masai warrior with a spear in one hand and a torch and a walkie-talkie in the other. We had a deliciously succulent beef kebab for our main course and chatted to Francis about what a long drive it had been. He told us that the road to heaven was not an easy one... :-)